A gift from the Lord: How Rohit Sharma found his mojo at the Home of Cricket

Rohit Sharma revealed that the bat he used to smash 138 at Lord's in the England ODIs was gifted by Shardul Thakur. After scores of 11 and 26 in the first two games, Rohit bounced back with a memorable ton.

In Short

• Rohit Sharma scored 138 in the final ODI at Lord’s
• Shardul Thakur had gifted Rohit the bat he used for his century
• It was the former captain's first hundred at the Home of Cricket

Rohit Sharma was not having the best time with the bat during the ODI series in England earlier this year. But he found a rather interesting way to jump back to form, and it was an unexpected gift from his fellow statesman and close friend, Shardul Thakur.

The former India captain opened up about this moment on his show, Family Full House with Rohit Sharma. He admitted that the first two games of the series did not go as per his standards. In fact, he scored just 11 and 26 runs in the first two games.

The final game of the series brought Rohit to Lord’s, with the pressure on the Indian opener to deliver after two low scores. He did exactly that, producing a brilliant 138 to help India finish the series on a high. In fact it was his first hundred at Lord's.

But the story behind the bat he used for that innings was perhaps even more interesting.

Rohit revealed that Shardul had gifted him the bat before the match, a gesture that ended up becoming a small but memorable part of his Lord’s story.

“Last ODI series jo humne kheli thi, jiss se mere kuch run bane the last ODI mein. Woh bat mujhe Shardul ne diya tha” (The last ODI series we played, with which I scored some runs in the last ODI. That bat was given to me by Shardul), Rohit said on his show.

Rohit then explained the rather simple reason why Shardul had a bat to spare. As a bowler, Shardul often receives bats, and Rohit joked that he continues to get them, sometimes even better ones than the batter himself.

What started as a simple gift from one teammate to another ended up being part of Rohit’s memorable 138 at the Home of Cricket.

For Shardul, it was just a bat he had received and passed on to a close friend. For Rohit, it became the bat he took to Lord’s and used to produce a memorable innings after a difficult start to the series and get his name on the Honour's board.

- Ends